Oswaldo Vigas

When Vigas arrived in Paris he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts[1] and took open courses at the Sorbonne. While in Paris, he was commissioned to produce five mosaic murals that were to become part of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, declared a World Heritage Cultural Site by UNESCO in 2000, a great example of the total integration of art and architecture, conceived by Architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva[4] que el artista realizó en París.,[5] with the participation of national and international artists such as Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Wifredo Lam, Fernand Léger, Mateo Manaure, Alejandro Otero, Víctor Valera, and Victor Vasarely, among others.

During most of the 1950s, his works shifted away from the human figure towards constructivism and abstraction. In 1953, he participated in the I São Paulo Biennial and in a group show at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, among other exhibitions. Between 1953 and 1958, the artist exhibited regularly in France and Venezuela. In 1954, he represented Venezuela at the XXVII Venice Biennale, and was part of the Painters of Venezuela traveling exhibition at the Pan-American Union, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

Mural at Universidad Central de Venezuela, 1954

During the late 1950s to mid 1960s, while still living in France, Vigas was invited to participate at an important survey about Latin American art in which he was awarded first prize: the Gulf-Caribbean Art Exhibition, curated by Lee Malone at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This exhibition traveled later to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; The Munson-Williams Proctor Institute, Utica, The Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, and the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center. Also, he had exhibitions at the Slater Memorial Museum of Norwich, Connecticut and the University of Nebraska Art Gallery, and participated in the Contemporary Drawings from Latin America show at the Pan-American Union in Washington, D.C. He was included in another large survey exhibition, South American Art Today, curated by José Gómez Sicre at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Well versed in anthropology and primitive cultures, influenced by a visit to Picasso in 1955, Vigas channeled his works of the 1950s into a search for an authentic language, combining gestural, geometric and figurative paintings that led him progressively to reveal his connection with early cultures, and for the notion of a personal identity marked by telluric, magical and personal imaginative resources found in his works from the 1960s onward.

He lived in Paris for twelve years and made many friends including Fernand Léger, Max Ernst, Wifredo Lam,[2] and it's where he met Janine, his French born wife and lifelong companion. In 1964 he moved back to Valencia, Venezuela, along with Janine, and continued to exhibit his work thoroughly throughout the country. In 1967, his son Lorenzo was born, and in 1970, he relocated to Caracas.

The 1960s marked the artist’s informalist period; his thick black lines dissolved the figure into abstract volumes and shapes. Soon after his arrival in Venezuela, he was named Cultural Director of the Universidad de Los Andes. Without relinquishing his unstoppable work as an artist, he accepted an appointment as Artistic Director of the Instituto Nacional de Cultura y Bellas Artes (INCIBA), promoting the work of artists and exhibitions, as well as contributing to the creation of national Salons and awards to help artists from around the country. He remained in office until 1972.

From the mid 60’s onwards, Vigas work progressively shifted back from informalism to a new figurative phase, in which abstract shapes began to look like figures once again. In 1976, he was part of the group show Latin Excellence Contemporary Hispanic Art, Xerox Corporation Center, New York, along with Matta, Canogar, Orozco, and others. In the 1980s, he participated in the Chicago International Art Exhibition, Navy Pier, Chicago; Venezuelan Art Today, 350 Years, traveling to Boston, Washington and New York; 30 artistas andinos latinoamericanos, at the Pittsburgh Museum, and The Latin American Graphic Arts Biennial, at the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art in New York. Also during the 1980s, Vigas produced a series of tapestries and ceramic works, and his first bronze-cast sculptures.

In 1990, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber organized a major retrospective of his works, showcasing not only paintings and sculptures but also tapestries, ceramics and jewelry. Lagoven, the oil company and subsidiary of PDVSA, produced a documentary film about his work.

In 1992 the city of Monte Carlo honored him with the Prince Rainier Grand Prize, and the Monnaie de Paris, organized a large retrospective, Oswaldo Vigas, from 1952 to 1993, showcasing one hundred and thirty two works comprising paintings, ceramics and sculptures.

During his later years, Vigas continued to work and exhibit worldwide, gaining further international recognition. In 2012 he was invited to participate in the Un Coeur, un Monde group show that traveled through France, the United States, Vietnam, Australia, Brazil and Japan. He was also invited to exhibit at The Latin American & Caribbean Contemporary Art Today survey at the Miura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan. Oswaldo Vigas was one of the most prominent and prolific artists of his generation in Venezuela.

In 2008, he was designated Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de France.

Many decades of Vigas work feature a clear influence from indigenous art of South America and Venus de Tacarigua figurines, it has been questioned if this work is a body of abstraction or rather cultural appropriation.[3] This issue is similar to Picasso's African Period and the use of African masks in his work.[3]

A major anthological exhibition of Vigas' work traveled throughout the Americas. The first installment of Oswaldo Vigas Anthological: 1943- 2013 was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lima, Peru; the show then traveled to the National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago, Chile, and it will open in Bogotá, Colombia in July 2015.[3]

This is a listing of select exhibitions of Vigas.